Selectmen Want To See The Deal

Town Officials Want Outline Of Plan Before Proceeding On Cherry Brook Farm

June 16, 2004|By JESSE LEAVENWORTH; Courant Staff Writer

CANTON — The town attorney is working on a development agreement town officials want in place before they move forward with buying development rights to Cherry Brook Farm in North Canton.

At their meeting Tuesday night, selectmen briefly discussed the agreement that Town Attorney Bruce Chudwick is working on after discussions with the land owners, John and Penny Wilson.

The Wilsons have offered to sell development rights to the 167-acre farm to the town for $300,000.

The Wilsons plan to sell the farm in two parts, a 50-acre piece and a larger parcel. The smaller piece includes a house built in 1779. In preliminary discussions, officials and the Wilsons have talked about allowing future owners of the larger parcel to build a home and a secondary, in-law residence. But the size and number of structures and what types of activity would not be allowed on the land are still being reviewed.

The Cherry Brook Farm development rights also will be the focus of the board of finance meeting slated for Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the community center, board Chairman Richard Eickenhorst said Tuesday.

The open space commission voted earlier this month to recommend that selectmen move forward with purchasing the rights, which would prohibit large-scale development but allow the owners to continue farming the land.

Funding sources are still being discussed. About $185,000 is available in the town's open space fund. State grants also may be available, and town leaders could work out a deferred payment plan with the landowners, Chief Administrative Officer Frederic Turkington Jr. has said.

In other business Tuesday, selectmen appointed Richard F. Hutchings to a two-year term as the townwide chief of fire and emergency medical services. The term begins in July. Hutchings, who was the sole candidate for the position, has been filling the role since the former chief resigned in the middle of his term last year. The chief's position pays an annual $3,000 stipend.

Retention of volunteers will be his main challenge, Hutchings told selectmen. In questions and answers that he provided to selectmen before their vote, he wrote that the town is getting too expensive for some volunteers. Two people left the service in the recent past because they could not afford to buy homes in Canton, Hutchings wrote. Also, Hutchings told selectmen that the town's demographics are changing from blue to white collar, and the white collar workers have little time for any volunteer service, never mind one that requires 160 hours of training and testing.

Finally, selectmen informally agreed that the town should apply for a state grant of up to $500,000, part of the Small Town Economic Assistance Program. If granted, the money would be used to renovate and build an addition to the town highway garage by the Farmington River. Officials have been talking about the project for years, First Selectwoman Mary Tomolonius said. The work would bring more equipment inside and help prolong its life, selectmen said.